You're right.
But Japan is an example of an Asian country that forced itself to assimilate the technology and habits of the West. They ended up invading China before WW2, last of a long list of countries.
Japan attacked China with the blessing of Teddy Roosevelt, a secret 1905 treaty allowed Japan to expand into Asia without push back from the US.
Pearl harbor happened because we reneged on this "secret treaty" by backing China 30 years later in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War... we reneged because congress had no clue the treaty existed.
Side note: Is Teddy Roosevelt the reason we got dragged into WW2? Yes.
> Side note: Is Teddy Roosevelt the reason we got dragged into WW2? Yes.
This is the same fallacy as the UK "being dragged into WW1 and WW2". You just needed an excuse for joining. You joined because you couldn't accept Japan or Germany becoming hegemons of their regions. An united Europe or East Asia can challenge American supremacy.